Introduction

Samsung is one of the largest technology companies in the world. They make pretty much every electronic product you can think of.

Being a leader in DRAM and flash memory production, it comes as no surprise that they are also a player in the SSD business. They are actually one of the biggest players in terms of volume because their drives are used in Sony and Apple products.

Samsung's current 840 Series products are extremely popular with users, and we were extremely impressed with the 840 Pro when we reviewed it earlier this year.

The Samsung 840 Non-Pro SSD we are reviewing today is not based on a SandForce or Marvell controller, but, instead, on Samsung's own creation, the Samsung MDX (S4LN021X01-8030), which is a triple-core ARM microprocessor. It's the same controller used on the faster 840 Pro; the main difference between both is that the 840 Pro uses MLC flash chips (2 bits per cell) whereas the non-Pro version uses TLC chips (3 bits per cell).

As the name suggests, TLC stores three bits per cell which increases its density compared to MLC (two bits per cell) and SLC (one bit per cell). This means that the price per GB of flash storage will go down significantly, which enables new SSDs to be built at unprecedented price levels. On the other hand, TLC flash is slower and comes with shorter endurance too, which means firmware has to be running at its best to avoid any potential issues.

Packaging

You will receive:

• The SSD
• Documentation
• Samsung SSD sticker

The Drive

The drive conforms to the dimensions set forth by the 2.5" form factor. It is made of metal, which improves its durability. Its height is only 7 mm, which makes it compatible with Intel's Ultrabook specification.


Like most modern SSDs, the Samsung 840 uses the SATA 6 Gbps interface. It is compatible with any older SATA standard, but will, in such a case, work at reduced performance.


Samsung has crammed all components onto one side of the PCB. You will find the SSD controller and a total of eight flash chips here. A DRAM chip has also been installed to provide RAM for the SSD Controller.


Samsung uses their own ARM-based, triple-core MDX controller on the 840 Pro.


The eight TLC flash chips are produced by Samsung on a 21 nanometer process.